Mawidge . . . mawidge is what bwings us togewer today . . . Mawidge, the bwessed awwangment, that dweam wiffima dweam . . .
If you haven’t seen the movie Princess Bride from 1987 yet, you should go rent it ASAP when you are done reading here of course. For those who need a translation of the line above, here you go. “Marriage . . . marriage is what brings us together today. Marriage, the blessed arrangement, that dream within a dream. . .” Today, i want to tackle a passage that i have been looking at for over a year now in depth, in a practical, ‘how does this look in day to day life?’ sort of way. Here is the passage in question.
John 5:25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church [q]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
We men enjoy reading the previous verses in this chapter, it begins with, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” That is a good one right? i saw a clip on Facebook where a preacher was talking about this passage. It was probably a poorly edited clip intended to make him look bad, it succeeded. Sure that is where Paul starts this section of his letter but that is not the emphasis. No, indeed it is not. It is, however, on the husbands. Let’s just take a minute and look at this directly.
“…As Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,” Now, husbands i don’t think this is calling on us to sacrifice our lives, but it is calling us to lay it down. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, the church. He also, calmed them when they were fearful. He ensured they had food to eat, He wept over them, with them and took time to be with them. He listened to them and was available to them. He did this to sanctify them, set them apart, they were not just like everyone else, they were more than that. This is how Paul chooses to discribe the relationship between a husband and a wife, this is marriage.
“…Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” Husband, do you read the word with your wife? Do you pray with her and for her? Do you meditate on the Word together as one? In verse 31 it states, “For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This relationship is a mirror of the relationship Jesus has with us, His Church, His Bride. The mystery of us becoming one with Christ Jesus, as Jesus is one with the Father. We too are one with our wives.
The more we husbands love our wife like this the easier it is for our wife to respect us. Now let me end here with a word of caution for you wives, as you accepted Christ (as we all did) and died to ourselves in order to live for Him. As we respect the law of Christ, to love God and to love others, so too you must respect your husbands. Remember, love is a choice. The two of you, husband and wife, made a commitment to love one another in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in plenty and in want, for better or worse . . . etc. If we, in our marriages began to live out God’s plan for us, as we reach together toward Christ, we would naturally be drawn closer together. This is marriage.
You are loved,
cj
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